2018 Catalogue

Memoranda Collection // Mini Cards

Our new collection of Mini cards will be launching at Pulse. Here’s a little about the thought and design process of the new Memoranda Collection.

My life is a busy one of juggling 2 children and a business and countless everyday things. I am constantly on the go; making lists and trying desperately to remember everything. And I am not alone. This is replicated in lives everywhere as we deal with the ‘chatter’ and clutter of a busy and complicated world. I for one feel like I free wheel through life in a disorganised state (or this might just be me!) and never quite get a grip on the basics anymore. In other words our lives have become so complex and multi-faceted we often forget the very simple stuff necessary to keep us sane and functioning.

I’ve always designed from what’s around me and happening to me and been fascinated by the sociological side of things: i.e how we all function, interact and the outside influences on us. So I decided that my first range of 8 Mini Cards would be centred around how I’m feeling right now. Far from being another set of contrite slogans the new ‘Memoranda’ range is designed as a bit of an antidote to our cluttered modern lives. A list of basic mottos which act as common sense and plain speaking to centre us back to the core suggestions to live our everyday lives.

They’re small so they could be punchy. I set rules for the design process (I love a set of design rules to work from – this goes back to my Brighton University days and the very brilliant tutor George Hardy).

So the rules were:
– They had to be bold – use strong simple graphics and not be over-embellished by the design around them. This went for the colour pallet also.
– They had to all use the same bold and chunky painted text (painted big with Indian Ink, scanned and shrunk down)
– They must all be worded in a similar way. By this I mean they had to all work in a similar context. They all (apart from 2 – but we all need exceptions some times!) have comparatives in them….. bigger, louder, longer, further…..

As always with the design process I started with ink, brush and worked big. I didn’t want them to be illustrative or too pictorial as it was more about the concept and an abstract interpretation.

And the title? A memoranda is a short note written as a reminder. So that seemed perfect and summed it up.